Former MSU RB Makhi Frazier Lands with Prominent SEC Program
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Michigan State's starting running back from the 2025 season is headed south.
Former Spartan Makhi Frazier was the very first player to announce that he would enter the transfer portal, doing so on the same day Jonathan Smith was fired and Pat Fitzgerald was selected as the successor. That was back on Nov. 30. A little less than two months later, Frazier has found a landing spot, as he committed to Ole Miss on Monday morning.
Frazier has two years of eligibility remaining and will be a true junior for the Rebels next season. Ole Miss has had a pretty large spotlight on itself with the departure of Lane Kiffin to LSU, the promotion of Pete Golding to head coach, and then its run to the College Football Playoff semifinal. The sixth-seeded Rebels were knocked off in the Fiesta Bowl by No. 10 Miami, which plays top-ranked Indiana for the national title on Monday night.
Ole Miss was not the only prominent program that pursued Frazier. Indiana and Ohio State were names that popped up during his portal recruitment, among others. On3 ranks Frazier 122nd overall among all transfers and eighth among transferring running backs.
Frazier's Time at MSU
Frazier totaled 541 yards and two touchdowns across his two seasons with the green and white, but nearly all of that production came this past season, when he emerged as the RB1. The McKinney, Texas native ran for 520 yards on 116 carries (4.5 average) this past fall across nine games.
There were certainly points where it felt like Frazier ran the ball better than his statistics seemed to show, which partially explains why he was such a sought-after player this portal cycle. MSU's offensive line did not run block very well, grading out 12th in the Big Ten in that category on Pro Football Focus. Injuries that caused constant lineup shuffling did not help with that.
As a recruit, Frazier was a three-star prospect. He finished ranked 1,689th overall in the class of 2024, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking. Frazier had been committed to Oregon State and Smith, but flipped to MSU when Smith took the job and also brought RBs coach Keith Bhonapha with him. Bhonapha is now at Cal.
Frazier was also childhood friends with Brandon Tullis, who was in the same class as Frazier and also flipped from Oregon State to Michigan State when Smith took the job. Tullis has opted to stay in East Lansing, though. The Spartans have been busy adding at RB through the portal, landing UConn transfer Cam Edwards, Iowa transfer Jaziun Patterson, and Western Kentucky transfer Marvis Parrish.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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